How CLA Scores Reflect Student Employability

In the Spring of 2009, Dr. Vaughan, University Core Director, in conjunction with the Core Advisory Council conducted a series of evaluations of national assessment tests. The committee researched several different tests, and actually undertook the tests themselves. The best candidate from among these tests was the CLA.  Ashland University students ranked well above the national average for value-added achievement, scoring in the 85th percentile. This means that freshman achieved greater gains in critical-thinking, analytic-reasoning, problem-solving, and written-communication skills by their senior year at Ashland University than at other CLA-assessed universities enrolling students with similar academic backgrounds.

The following blog post discusses a study that was done to assess how the skills assessed in the CLA relate to the employability of college students.  Read the full blog here....

All Aboard: The Voyage of a Lifetime

Every semester, the Ashland University Global Education Office sends student abroad to different locations around the world to expand their educational horizons.  This semester 10 students took advantage of these opportunities. However, one student chose to explore the foreign in a way that can only be described as unique.

Sarah O'Connell, a junior, has spent the past 4 months traveling the world aboard the Semester at Sea Ship connected to the University of Virginia.

"This entire experience has been indescribably fantastic," she says.  "I've met people, made connections, done service trips, and ate great food.  Some of my greatest experiences are recorded in my blog, Sarah at Sea 2014."

Sarah took advantage of this opportunity because she has always wanted to travel abroad but was never able to decide where she wanted to go.  So when she learned about the Semester at Sea program she was completely sold on the idea.

"The idea of adventure and circumnavigating the globe while taking classes on a ship sounded so enticing," she says.  "Not only that, but we would also travel through 14 different countries and 3 different oceans."

When the ship docks on land, Sarah travels even more by visiting those countries and cities.  Visiting all of these countries has broadened Sarah's mind so that she can be more aware of world issues from being immersed in different cultures.  Some of Sarah's adventures listed in her blog include: The Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, and camping in Africa and exploring the African Safari.

But even with all of these once in a lifetime experiences, it has not distracted Sarah from the main focus of this trip:  school.

"Every day we have classes, programs, lectures, and clubs that run on the ship.  We also have two cafeterias, a gym, and a pool."  Sarah adds, "All of that, with the added bonus, of doing all of this on a traveling ship."

The courses that Sarah is taking combine with global travel to offer her a unique load of classes that cannot be taken anywhere else.

"I'm taking: Intro to Anthropology, Oceanography, Theories of International Relations, and Acting," Sara says.  "All courses require field journals that have to do with the subject and are added to our grades.  I knew I would be better acquainted with the cultures while taking these courses because they are applicable to me as I travel the world."

Even though there were times that Sarah missed home, had troubles adapting to the customs of foreign cultures, and struggled with balancing her studies and travels, she claims that she would definitely recommend this program to anyone.

"Beyond a doubt this has been the most amazing experience I've ever had," Sarah said.

For more information about how you can study abroad like Sarah contact the Ashland University Global Education Office in 100 Founders Hall or e-mail us at global@ashland.edu.  Be sure to check out the Ashland Abroad Office site for a list of all our programs and opportunities.

Mythologies About the Liberal Arts Continue to Fall

 By Dr. William Vaughan, Core Director, Ashland University

 

As we all know, one of the goals of our liberal arts core curriculum is to get students to engage in critical thinking and develop essential competencies of the wise person.  To act rationally often involves subjecting long held viewpoints to critical scrutiny, and learning how to question the foundation of ideas that often have mythological standing.  Interestingly enough, the need to demythologize established opinion about things often includes long-held opinions about the liberal arts themselves, namely the idea that one "cannot do anything" with a liberal arts degree, or that the skills and competencies of liberal arts education are not in demand.  It takes the skills of liberal arts thinking to burst the mythologies that surround liberal arts study at the university.

A recent report from the national Center for Higher Education Management Systems, in conjunction with the Association of American Colleges and Universities, works toward providing empirical data assisting the task of dismantling the mythologies that often accompany references to the liberal arts.  The comprehensive report shows that employers desire students with liberal arts backgrounds, that employers think general institutional university level critical thinking skills are more important than their undergraduate major, that liberal arts grads are the key to multiple essential professions, that more liberal arts and science majors attain advanced degrees, and the liberal arts majors close earnings gaps with professional majors the further one projects in the future.

This report, and others like it, will be the centerpiece for Ashland University's upcoming review of its undergraduate core curriculum.  Our university must make decisions that are based in national data and are consistent with current trends - and many of those trends consistently show the centrality and continuing importance of the liberal arts.

 Click here for an overview of the survey results.

The Humanities: "A perfect abyss of knowledge"

The Humanities and Us

By Heather Mac Donald

In 2011, the University of California at Los Angeles decimated its English major. Such a development may seem insignificant, compared with, say, the federal takeover of health care. It is not. What happened at UCLA is part of a momentous shift in our culture that bears on our relationship to the past—and to civilization itself.  Read the entire blog here.